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Judge Rules Sites Can Be Sued Over Design

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the some-attrocious-colors-should-inspire-suits dept.

BcNexus writes "According to the Associated Press, a California judge has ruled that a lawsuit brought against the Target Corporation may proceed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The catch here is that the suit, leveled by the National Federation of the Blind, concerns the design of Target's website. Could this set a precedent and subsequent flood of lawsuits against websites? What if another design is not tractable?" From the article: "'What this means is that any place of business that provides services, such as the opportunity to buy products on a website, is now, a place of accommodation and therefore falls under the ADA,' said Kathy Wahlbin, Mindshare's Director of User Experience and expert on accessibility. 'The good news is that being compliant is not difficult nor is it expensive. And it provides the additional benefit of making accessible web sites easier for search engines to find and prioritize.'"

4 of 709 comments (clear)

  1. may contain NUTS by stewwy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I bought a packet of peanuts the other day (in the UK )and being bored read the back of the packet there was a warning on the back 'MAY CONTAIN NUTS' My point is this is the same sort of thing ie excessive sensitivity

  2. Hargh ! by btk667 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Hooo god please no.. Don't tell me they will patent the "look" of web site.
    Maybe I haven't understood the fine article but still. What is One Click buy? is not a functionnality of the web site in question?

    Copyright laws are killing the industries, killing arts, killings new products.. When will the killing end?

    In a capitalist world, does copyright laws encourage competition or not? I mean thoses laws don't just stop people from using the product (or playing with it) but stop people from improving upon it.

    Related Slashdot article:
    A Working Economy Without DRM?
    http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/30/01 45228

    Making Money Selling Music Without DRM
    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/23/141620 3

  3. Re:This is Dangerous by Lordrashmi · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Ah, that is why I have a flashlight on my shotgun...

  4. Re:Why by eraserewind · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    There is no God and there was no Jesus, so don't sweat it. Life is what you make of it.